🌱 Healdsburg Arts Festival Kicks Off + Virtual Drought Town Hall

Hello, friends! I'm Sean Peek, filling in for your usual curator Simone for the next week on the Healdsburg Daily. Please note that your newsletters may be a bit lighter than usual during this time. Now, here's what you need to know about what's happening in town today.

First, today's weather:

Some clouds, then sunny. High: 86 Low: 53.

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Here are the top three stories in Healdsburg today:

1. The 2022 Healdsburg Arts Festival begins at 4:00 p.m. today, Aug. 26, at Healdsburg's historic Downtown Plaza. Community members who attend this much-anticipated three-day event will enjoy more than 40 fine art and craft artists, live music and performances, local food and beverage vendors, community art-making activities, public art displays, art and creativity demos, and more. Today's performances include Jewels of Beladi Belly Dance, Gabriel Fraire Loz Bluz Mundo Rio, and the HCA Board Band, and there will be a graffiti artist set up near the Culinary Pavilion. As a reminder, multiple roads around the plaza will be closed beginning at 9:00 a.m. today through 8:00 p.m. Sunday. You can check out the full festival program here. (Healdsburg Center for the Arts)
2. Sonoma Water and the County of Sonoma have announced a virtual town hall happening next Thursday, Sep. 1 at 4 p.m. to update the community on the current drought emergency. Participants will learn about installing home rainwater catchment systems and a new County program that will store water underground for future droughts. If you're interested in attending and would like to ask the panel a question, you can complete the registration form at this link. If you can't attend next week, two additional drought-related town halls will be held on Oct. 6 and Nov. 3 at 4:00 p.m. (County of Sonoma via Facebook)
3. The Sonoma Sheriff's Office is asking the community to help locate Gregory Peterson of nearby Cloverdale. He was last seen in the early hours of Jul. 16 leaving his home in the 30000 block of Highway 128. Peterson is described as a 62-year-old white male, approximately 6'03" tall, weighing around 200 pounds. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Investigations Unit at 707-565-2185. (Sonoma Sheriff via Facebook)

Today in Healdsburg:

• Sonoma Backroads Art Exhibit At The Upstairs Art Gallery (11:00 AM)
• Healdsburg Arts Festival 2022 At Healdsburg's Historic Downtown Plaza (4:00 PM)
• Friday Evening Wine & Song At Hudson Street Wineries (5:00 PM)
• Wilson Artisan Wines Summer Music Series At Mazzocco Winery (6:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• On Wednesday evening, Ariel Kelley, Vice Mayor of Healdsburg, hosted a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) meeting. "Creating a city-wide CWPP was a priority of mine when I ran for City Council, and thanks to my Council colleagues for making it a priority, we will have one completed by the end of the year!" wrote Kelley on Facebook. (Ariel Kelley, Vice Mayor of Healdsburg via Facebook)
• Looking for your new dream home here in the Healdsburg area? Check out Patch's latest real estate roundup featuring five newly-listed local properties. On the list is 226 Center Street, an adorable 3-bed, 2-bath home listed for $1,250,000. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Healdsburg's own h2hotel has been dubbed "a veritable horticultural haven" by The Travel. If you haven't heard of this unique and sustainable hotel, it's a "bastion of botanical beauty, a customizable green space that’s both luxe and lush with verdant plant life," according to the writer. Best of all, you can take home one of the plants the hotel staff decorates your room with! (TheTravel)

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Events:

• Healdsburg Arts Festival 2022 (August 26)
• Add your event

Thanks for following along and staying informed. I'll see you around!

— Sean Peek

About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.